Tea and Sympathy, Plus

On a frigid English winter night, the strains of Summertime—when "the livin' is easy"—waft across a white-walled caf. Sipping tea and coffee and nibbling snacks, men and women chat amiably around small rectangular tables. But this is no ordinary coffeehouse. The warm and welcoming spot in Farnborough, Hampshire—55 km southwest of London—is open only one night a month, for just two-and-a-half hours. Its name, worked in neon, conveys its special role: Welcome to the Alzheimer Caf UK.

Modeled on a network of such cafs pioneered in the Netherlands, the Alzheimer Caf UK is designed to provide a place...